Devi Mahatmya
Chapter 7 · The Slaying of Chanda and Munda and the Birth of Chamunda · Final Carita
Chanda and Munda marched on the Goddess with a fourfold army at their backs. Wrath took hold of Ambika, and from her frowning brow sprang Kali, sword and noose in her hands, a skull-topped staff across her shoulder, a garland of human heads at her throat, a leopard’s skin for a garment. She swept the whole army into her mouth and devoured it. One stroke of her sword sent Chanda’s head flying; Munda too went down to the earth. Kali carried both heads to Chandika, and the Goddess gave her a name: Chamunda.
Dhumralochana lay dead, and Shumbha’s next command was already in motion. Chanda and Munda went out at the head of the daitya ranks, and behind the two generals massed a fourfold army, weapons lifted high. They came on and drew up before the Goddess, set on war.
1
ऋषिरुवाच ।
आज्ञप्तास्ते ततो दैत्याश्चण्डमुण्डपुरोगमाः ।
चतुरङ्गबलोपेता ययुरभ्युद्यतायुधाः ॥ 1 ॥
Arriving, they saw her: the Goddess seated with a faint smile resting on her lips, mounted on her lion, and the lion standing on a vast golden peak of the king of mountains. Even that golden vision left their arrogance whole. They set themselves to take the Goddess by force and drag her away. Some daityas came on with bows drawn and swords bared; some pressed in until they stood almost within reach of her.
2 · 3
ददृशुस्ते ततो देवीमीषद्धासां व्यवस्थिताम् ।
सिंहस्योपरि शैलेन्द्रशृङ्गे महति काञ्चने ॥ 2 ॥
ते दृष्ट्वा तां समादातुमुद्यमं चक्रुरुद्यताः ।
आकृष्टचापासिधरास्तथान्ये सत्समीपगाः ॥ 3 ॥
Then Ambika turned the full weight of her wrath on those enemies. As the fury gathered inside her, her face darkened, shade by shade, to the black of ink. And out of that forehead, knotted in its furious frown, Kali tore free at tremendous speed: her face dreadful to look upon, a sword in one hand, a noose in the other.
4 · 5
ततः कोपं चकारोच्चैरम्बिका तानरीन् प्रति ।
कोपेन चास्या वदनं मषीवर्णमभूत्तदा ॥ 4 ॥
भ्रुकुटीकुटिलात्तस्या ललाटफलकाद् द्रुतम् ।
काली करालवदना विनिष्क्रान्तासिपाशिनी ॥ 5 ॥
Her form itself was a house of terror. A wondrous skull-topped staff rode in her grip, a garland of human heads circled her throat, a leopard’s skin clothed her body, and the flesh dried tight over her bones made the figure more dreadful yet. Her mouth gaped enormously wide, her tongue lolled and flickered, hideous to watch, her eyes sat sunken and red, and her roar rolled outward until it had filled every direction.
6 · 7
विचित्रखट्वाङ्गधरा नरमालाविभूषणा ।
द्वीपिचर्मपरीधाना शुष्कमांसातिभैरवा ॥ 6 ॥
अतिविस्तारवदना जिह्वाललनभीषणा ।
निमग्नारक्तनयना नादापूरितदिङ्मुखा ॥ 7 ॥
She fell upon the army at terrible speed. Cutting down the great asuras as she went, she devoured that whole host of the gods’ enemies where it stood. She caught up the war-elephants in a single hand, and with each beast went its rear-guard men, its goad-wielding drivers, its warrior-riders, and the bells swinging at its neck, and the whole of it she flung into her mouth.
8 · 9
सा वेगेनाभिपतिता घातयन्ती महासुरान् ।
सैन्ये तत्र सुरारीणामभक्षयत तद्बलम् ॥ 8 ॥
पार्ष्णिग्राहाङ्कुशग्राहियोधघण्टासमन्वितान् ।
समादायैकहस्तेन मुखे चिक्षेप वारणान् ॥ 9 ॥
In the same way she flung a warrior into her mouth with his horses, and a chariot with its charioteer, and ground them between her teeth in a manner dreadful past telling. One asura she seized by the hair, another by the throat; one she stamped beneath her foot, another she crushed flat against her chest.
10 · 11
तथैव योधं तुरगै रथं सारथिना सह ।
निक्षिप्य वक्त्रे दशनैश्चर्वयन्त्यतिभैरवम् ॥ 10 ॥
एकं जग्राह केशेषु ग्रीवायामथ चापरम् ।
पादेनाक्रम्य चैवान्यमुरसान्यमपोथयत् ॥ 11 ॥
The weapons those asuras loosed at her, even their great missiles, she caught raging in her open mouth and splintered between her teeth. Of that whole army of strong and wicked-souled asuras, some she ground to pulp, some she swallowed whole, and some she beat down dead.
12 · 13
तैर्मुक्तानि च शस्त्राणि महास्त्राणि तथासुरैः ।
मुखेन जग्राह रुषा दशनैर्मथितान्यपि ॥ 12 ॥
बलिनां तद्बलं सर्वमसुराणां दुरात्मनाम् ।
ममर्दाभक्षयच्चान्यानन्यांश्चाताडयत्तथा ॥ 13 ॥
On that field one asura fell to the sword, one under the blows of the skull-staff, and one, gashed on the very points of her teeth, went to his destruction. Within a single moment that immense army of asuras lay felled upon the earth. And Chanda, seeing it, charged straight at that most terrifying Kali.
14 · 15
असिना निहताः केचित्केचित्खट्वाङ्गताडिताः ।
जग्मुर्विनाशमसुरा दन्ताग्राभिहता रणे ॥ 14 ॥
क्षणेन तन्महासैन्यमसुराणां निपातितम् ।
दृष्ट्वा चण्डो ऽभिदुद्राव तां कालीमतिभीषणाम् ॥ 15 ॥
That great asura buried the terrible-eyed Kali under a rain of arrows dreadful past all measure, and Munda flung his discuses at her by the thousand. And those uncounted discuses, streaming into her mouth, glowed there like so many disks of the sun swallowed into the belly of a dark storm cloud.
16 · 17
शरवर्षैर्महाभीमैर्भीमाक्षीं तां महासुरः ।
छादयामास चक्रैश्च मुण्डः क्षिप्तैः सहस्रशः ॥ 16 ॥
तानि चक्राण्यनेकानि विशमानानि तन्मुखम् ।
बभुर्यथार्कबिम्बानि सुबहूनि घनोदरम् ॥ 17 ॥
Then Kali laughed, a laugh thick with fury, breaking outward into a dreadful roar, and deep in her terrible mouth the teeth blazed, hard for any eye to hold. She swung up onto her great lion and bore down on Chanda, knotted her fingers in his hair, and with that same sword she severed his head.
18 · 19
ततो जहासातिरुषा भीमं भैरवनादिनी ।
काली करालवक्त्रान्तर्दुर्दर्शदशनोज्ज्वला ॥ 18 ॥
उत्थाय च महासिंहं देवी चण्डमधावत ।
गृहीत्वा चास्य केशेषु शिरस्तेनासिनाच्छिनत् ॥ 19 ॥
With Chanda’s head severed, Munda, lord among daityas, loosed a roar so vast and so dreadful that all three worlds shuddered at the sound. Then, seeing Chanda sprawled on the ground, he hurled himself at the Goddess, and she in her wrath struck him with the sword and brought him too down to the earth.
20 · 21
छिन्ने शिरसि दैत्येन्द्रश्चक्रे नादं सुभैरवम् ।
तेन नादेन महता त्रासितं भुवनत्रयम् ॥ 20 ॥
अथ मुण्डो ऽभ्यधावत्तां दृष्ट्वा चण्डं निपातितम् ।
तमप्यपातयद् भूमौ सा खड्गाभिहतं रुषा ॥ 21 ॥
Chanda fallen, the mighty Munda fallen: what was left of that army broke and fled, terror-struck, to the far quarters. And Kali took the heads of Chanda and Munda in her hands and strode to Chandika, her wild laughter pealing as she came, and spoke.
22 · 23
हतशेषं ततः सैन्यं दृष्ट्वा चण्डं निपातितम् ।
मुण्डं च सुमहावीर्यं दिशो भेजे भयातुरम् ॥ 22 ॥
शिरश्चण्डस्य काली च गृहीत्वा मुण्डमेव च ।
प्राह प्रचण्डाट्टहासमिश्रमभ्येत्य चण्डिकाम् ॥ 23 ॥
She said that in this yajna of battle she had presented her offering: Chanda and Munda, two great beasts of sacrifice, given over for the Goddess’s sake, and that Shumbha and Nishumbha the Goddess would now slay with her own hand. And the gracious Chandika, seeing the two great asuras Chanda and Munda carried before her in this fashion, spoke to Kali in words gentle and sweet.
24 · 25
मया तवात्रोपहृतौ चण्डमुण्डौ महापशू ।
युद्धयज्ञे स्वयं शुम्भं निशुम्भं च हनिष्यसि ॥ 24 ॥
ऋषिरुवाच ।
तावानीतौ ततो दृष्ट्वा चण्डमुण्डौ महासुरौ ।
उवाच कालीं कल्याणी ललितं चण्डिका वचः ॥ 25 ॥
The blessed Goddess said: because you have seized Chanda and Munda and come to me carrying them, for that very deed, O Devi, the world will know you by the name Chamunda. So it stands to this day: it is from this story that the Goddess is called Chamunda.
26
श्रीदेव्युवाच ।
यस्माच्चण्डं च मुण्डं च गृहीत्वा त्वमुपागता ।
चामुण्डेति ततो लोके ख्याता देवि भविष्यसि ॥ 26 ॥
Thus, within the Savarni Manvantara in the Sri Markandeya Purana, in the Devi Mahatmya, this seventh chapter, named the Slaying of Chanda and Munda, reaches its close here.
27 · Chapter close
इति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे सावर्णिके मन्वन्तरे देवीमाहात्म्ये
चण्डमुण्डवधो नाम सप्तमोऽध्यायः ॥ 7 ॥
Ahead
In Chapter 8 the seven Matrikas appear, the seven mothers who arise from the energies of Brahma, Shiva, Kumara, Vishnu, Varaha, Narasimha, and Indra; and Raktabija is slain, the asura from every drop of whose spilled blood a new asura would rise up from the earth.